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Queen Of Spades Character Analysis

1460 Words6 Pages

The short story “Queen of Spades” begins in a card party, where everyone is gambling in a game of faro. From the beginning, the author, Alexander Pushkin, portrays life in high Russian society at the time as devoted to leisurely wasting money for a chance to win. Gambling starts the story and ends it literally. Nonetheless, the concept of staking everything to win something greater is consistent throughout. Pushkin uses characters who gamble and are willing to forego everything for his purpose of illustrating high society’s focus on achieving and maintaining social hierarchy in St. Petersburg. The protagonist of the story, Hermann, originally does not give in to this gambling mentality at the card parties, but the societal value of hierarchy …show more content…

In the case of the Countess, the strive to maintain her high status continues to the last day of her life. As a noble, she always attends parties until late into the night at the risk of her diminishing health. No matter how tired she becomes, she does not leave until the end of the parties because she is afraid to break her elite appearance of youth and liveliness. Additionally, the Countess invites nearly everyone she deems of similar social status to her own parties even though she does not recognize any of them anymore due to her old age. Nonetheless, the Countess continues to hold such flashy parties despite her limitations. She knows that otherwise, others would talk behind her back, destroying the high image that she had been trying so hard to maintain. The old aristocrat no longer cares for her personal health as she prioritized parties over all else because she does not know any other way to keep her face. Despite the Countess’s sacrifice to maintain her high social image, the guests at her funeral still mock her for her old age. All her desperate endeavors are wasted because no matter how hard she tries, she can not overcome the temporary state of social status. Using the Countess, Pushkin successfully illustrates the impermanent social hierarchy that everyone in St. Petersburg strives for but ultimately cannot

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